http://urbanext.illinois.edu/conflict/intromovie.html







HOW LUCKY ARE YOU TO GO TO SCHOOL? APPRECIATE WHAT YOU CAN DO!
This short documentary introduces us to Isaac, an 8-year-old boy, who spends his day cleaning house and looking after his younger sister. Mathare slum in Nairobi has a population of 500,000 where despite access to free primary education, many children do not go to school.

n, many children do not go to school.
http://longlivekids.ca/educators/bullying_prevention.html

LONG LIVE KIDS - three short videos

When a kid overreacts and overreacts in an extremely agitated way, they are their own victim. They are very upset and live with a tremendous amount of stress. Only adults can teach kids how to take care of themselves and overcome their struggling.
Every kid needs to learn skills to TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES. How do you do that? It is a step by step process.
Begin with keeping your space neat, clean and organized. This means everything from not throwing the candy wrapper on the floor (from the candy you sneak eating in class) to keeping your desk and locker neat and clean.
The next step is taking inventory of how you sleep and what you eat. If you don't like the cafeteria food, analyze it and submit a report to authorities. Help to cook at home. If you feel tired, listen to your body talking to you and respond to it in a positive way - IT'S YOUR BODY - LISTEN!
The next step is reaching out to others - ask each other how things are going. Ask people you don't normally talk to - but only if you can be sincere. Remember in the presentation, when everyone offered a pencil.
TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF!!!!!!





http://www.canadiansafeschools.com/teachers/dealing.htm






http://www.bullyingnoway.com.au
http: www.curriculum.edu.au/mctyapdf/ natsafeschools
http://www.bullying.org/help.html
http://www.kidshelp.com.au/INFO7/linksforpare nts.htm
http://www.nobully.org.nz/advicep.htm http://www.lfcc.on.ca/bully.htm http://www.ianr.unl.edu/pubs/family/nf309.htm http://www.scre.ac.uk/bully/bother.html http://www.dfes.gov.uk/bullying/ http://www.education.unisa.edu.au/bullying/ http://www.parenting.sa.gov.au/pegs/29.pdf

Taking A Stand

Talk with your students about their rights (and how important it is) to take a stand against bullying. Explain that not only do the students who bully and the teachers who get involved have a role to play in stopping bullying, but also those who are being bullied and those who witness the bullying (the bystanders).

1.	As a class, have the students create a Pledge of Support. List the behaviours they will not tolerate such as name-calling, hitting, threatening etc. as well as the actions they will take to stand up for themselves or how they will stand up for others.
2.	Teach children a problem-solving model such as RESPECT:	R	- REVIEW the PROBLEM. What is it?
E	- EVERYONE involved owns the problem. To what degree?
S	- Brainstorm all possible SOLUTIONS.
P	- What PERSONALITY types are involved?
E	- EVALUATE the best solution.
C	- Have COURAGE and CONSIDERATION when you act on your solution.
T	- Set a TIME to review your solution. Did it solve the problem?

Model the actions they need to go through to solve a problem without getting angry or in a fight. Put students into groups. Give them a scenario and have the group use the RESPECT model to help them solve the problem. Have each group share their ideas or have groups create skits to demonstrate the solution they felt was the best.
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3.

Use children’s literature that demonstrates how a character stood up for themselves or others. Many books deal with bullying, taking a stand and being assertive. Some chapter book examples are Frindle by Andrew Clements, The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar (other of Holes) and the many excellent books by Eric Walters. Picture Book selections include Stephanie’s Ponytail by Robert Munsch or Wally Walrus by Barbara DeRubertis. Ask your school librarian for more suggestions.

Feelings

With all the demands of the curriculum, we often feel that we don’t have time to deal with the affective domain. However, talking about feelings and helping children identify and deal with their feelings is an important part of our job as teachers. Good teachers have always recognized that if the emotional life of the student is not addressed, very little learning will occur. This is especially true for our most vulnerable students, such as the very shy child who is bullied at recess or the aggressive, hostile child who hurts peers at recess. Helping children label and understand feelings can be integrated into the lessons you already teach with a little planning.

1.	Journals: Have students write in their journals about an event. Have them describe how they felt before, during and after the event. You might use "story starters" such as "One time something horrible happened..." or "I have to tell you about something exciting that happened to me..." If possible write back and forth with your students, responding to their journals with questions or comments helping them explore their emotions further or develop a trusting teacher/student relationship. Before children write their journals, you could write your own journal as a model to share with the class. As the group becomes accustomed to hearing your journal, you can begin to ask students to share their journals with the class. Ensure that the class understands the personal nature of journals and that no one can discuss the journals outside of the classroom.
2.	Regardless of what written material you are using, always look for ways to include feelings. Whether the class is reading a newspaper article, a poem, picture book, short story or chapter book, have your students explain what feelings the characters experienced and give examples or details to prove their answers. Encourage students to share their ideas through short answers, oral responses, visual maps or diagrams.
3.	Creating Riddles: Have students create “feeling” riddles. This might include the situation when the feeling is most likely to happen and words that are similar or opposite.	Example:		•	I have this feeling three times a year in December, March and June at report card time.
•	I probably shouldn’t feel this way because Mom and Dad never get mad.
•	I also feel this way when I have to give a speech.
•	What feeling is it?
4.	“I” messages: When children are bullied or have altercations with other students, have them include “I” messages as part of their repertoire for dealing with the problem. Help children practice using “I” messages through drama and role playing. For instance, using literature, the students could role-play a scene using “I” messages to express the character’s feelings. When students work together to resolve a particular real-life incident, help them use “I” messages to articulate how they felt and why they behaved the way they did (e.g. "I felt embarrassed or angry or hurt or humiliated when you…”). Give them all an opportunity to express their feelings. Then ask each student to use their own words to describe what the other student’s “I” message was. This helps ensure that both participants clearly understand the message and how important it is to listen to the other person. This strategy requires the aggressive child to acknowledge the feelings of others rather than use blaming or lack of emotion to justify his/her behaviour.
5.	Create simple feeling songs (based on nursery rhymes or simple songs) or short picture books about feelings. Have your class share their songs or books and help educate the younger students in the school about the importance of naming and sharing your feelings appropriately.

Ratting vs. Reporting

Students need to know the difference between ratting and reporting. Fear of looking like a tattle-tale often stops students who are being bullied from reporting the bullying. You must give students options to let adults know what is going on.

1.	Use timely news articles about events where no one reported and/or where someone came forward with information about a crime or bullying. Talk about the need to report and reasons why someone might keep quiet. Help students realize that if everyone is part of a support team, then bullying behaviour will always be identified. The reporter can’t be shamed or feared into silence.
2.	Have a "Something’s Bothering Me Box" in the class. This gives students an anonymous way of reporting bullying incidents (or any other concerns they may have), especially at the beginning of the year when trust might not yet be established. Set aside time to discuss issues as a class (without naming names) or with individuals as required.
3.	As all teachers know, positive reinforcement is almost always much more successful than negative reinforcement in curbing students "bad" behaviour. Create opportunities for students to have their acts of kindness and respect reported and rewarded. Next to the "Something’s Bothering Me Box", have a"Reporting Respect Box" for student to share things they did or saw others doing. Perhaps they stood up for themselves assertively but calmly in the face of a student who bullies. Perhaps they came to the aid of another student who was hurt or need help. Perhaps they told a student who was bullying to leave that person alone. Take time each week to read respect reports with your students. Talk about other positive things the students could do in the incidents being discussed. Discuss things they might have done that would only have made matters worse.

Accepting Differences

Our schools are becoming more and more diverse. Helping students realize the worth and value of every child is an important component of the teaching process.

1.	The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario has a wonderful program called “Erasing Prejudice For Good.” It lists books and activities to support the elimination of discrimination and the acceptance of all people.
2.	Create a "Personal Rights and Responsibilities" list with the students. Talk about the rights that they are entitled to and the responsibilities they have as members of the school community. This ties in well with issues of bullying in that students have the right to be free from bullying and also the responsibility to ensure others are not bullied.
3.	Make a Venn diagram. Group the students in pairs. Have them put information in the Venn diagram related to likes, dislikes, favourite things to do, sports etc. Have them look at how they’re different and yet have a lot in common.. Have them write a simple poem called “We’re different and yet we’re the same.”	(Student’s name) likes _ And I like _ But we both like We’re different and yet we’re the same.	(Student’s name) has _ And I have _ But we both have We’re different and yet we’re the same.

Loneliness

All students have different personalities; some prefer to be alone, while others enjoy many friendships. It is important to encourage all students to interact positively with each other and to work and play as a team. A classroom that is inclusive, tolerant and respectful will not have students who feel lonely due to isolation and bullying. Here are some things to watch out for:

1.	Watch where children sit. Notice whether children who are feeling lonely are isolated in their seating. Mix up your seating plan. Put students together that might not otherwise mix. Consider incorporating cooperative education strategies into your lesson planning. Give the students roles to play in their team to support each other. Some of these roles might be: Leader, Summarizer, Gopher, Supporter, Listener, Organizer, Planner, Decision Maker etc. Give each student an opportunity to play each role by rotating through the roles on a weekly basis. Reward the students for working together. Have a monthly 1/2 hour free time for students or a special day where the class can wear hats or enjoy a small snack in class. Let each group earn the privilege by working as a team and earning points together.
2.	Monitor of your own attitude. We all have some students who don’t match our personalities. Check yourself to be sure you are treating each child positively and respectfully. Some students can be challenging and it is important to avoid inadvertently giving the signal that it is okay to ignore a child. Plan some positive things to say about each of your students. Let the quiet or lonely children share a talent or skill they have. Let them lead the class or have a special job.
3.	Be aware of the changing dynamics in your classroom. Hold class meetings to clear the air and help students realize they don’t all have to be friends but no one in the class should feel sad or lonely. You might use a "talking stick" for the students to hold while talking. Each student passes it to the next student in order for them to speak. A student may choose to pass. No-one else speaks when someone has the “talking stick” in their hand (including the teacher). The “talking stick” often gives quiet, introverted students the power to speak to the class.

Respect and Kindness

Many schools and school boards are adopting character education. These important skills are often overlooked in a time when the educational focus is upon standards and academics. It is important to remember the education of the whole child. Schools are the perfect place to model and teach character building skills that are as important as the 3Rs.
Check your teaching style and attitudes towards your students. Are you respectful and kind? We all have bad days, but consistently treating our children with disrespect is a sign we need to step back and reassess why we are teaching and what lessons we are "teaching" our students. Make character traits such as respect and kindness part of your classroom expectations and part of the teaching and learning that happens in your classroom.

1.	Take time to teach the children empathy and ‘paying it forward’. Read newspaper articles, stories or books such as “The Giving Tree”, by Shel Siverstein, that demonstrate acts of respect or kindness to others. Have the students write responses to the stories. Have them put themselves in the place of the giver and the receiver of respect/kindness.
2.	Set aside time for affirmation activities. For example, have half the students sit in a circle and the other half sit in a circle around them. Students face each other. Children in the outer circle are the A’s and those in the inner circle are B’s. Each A says something positive to their B partner. Then the A's move one person to the left. The activity is repeated accept this time have the B’s say something nice to their A partner. This continues everyone has heard 3-5 positive messages from different students – many of which not be their good friends. This activity will require modeling and perhaps a list of positive things to comment on if students are not used to giving and receiving compliments and positive feedback.
3.	Assign students to be “kindness reporters”. Have them seek out acts of kindness and respect throughout the day or week and report on it to the class. It might be an oral report, on the announcements or written to take home and share with parents. At the end of each week/month, reward those students who are consistently “reported on”.

Recess Troubles

Recess can be a time of fights and hurt feelings. Helping students structure their play time and work co-operatively when problems arise will prevent many playground issues.

1.	Teach your students to plan ahead for recess time. What game will they play? Who will they play with? Roll play with your students - have them address questions such as: What do you do if another student wants to join the game? What do you do if someone isn’t playing fairly? Do you have rules for your game? What do you do if people start to argue? Teaching children recess problem-solving skills in the classroom will help them get along better outside.
2.	Encourage the school to create Playground Patrollers - senior students who help problem solve with students, ensure students are playing safely and report unsafe playground activities. These students can serve role models for all students at recess.
3.	Give children a place to discuss playground problems. Perhaps it is a corner of the room or a place just outside the classroom door. Encourage children to work through their difficulties (with help from you if necessary). Monitor the problem solving - ensure that the effort is sincere. Students who frequently bring problems back to the class might owe the problem-solving time back to ensure they are not using it to avoid school work.

A Student Who Bullies

Sometimes we think bullying isn’t happening in our classroom or school. It can often be right under our noses. The key is to expose it and talk about it. If the behavior remains hidden, it continues. When it is addressed, it can be eliminated.

Try these activities in your classroom to address the issue:

1.	Give the kids a true or false test about bullying. Example: Girls rarely bully others or Bullying is only hitting others.// Talk about their answers and clear up misconceptions.
2.	Brainstorm bullying behaviours with the class. Post the list. Create another list of positive behaviours or ways to combat bullying.
3.	Create journals for students. Give them scenarios to finish, definitions to complete, or simply provide a place to write about their feelings and concerns. Keep up the communication. It’s a great way to improve writing skills and ensure issues are addressed before they become overwhelming for the student.